For children who play with words or patiently pore over pictures.
Although most alphabet books can be enjoyed by the youngest readers, this sophisticated alphabet book aims for an older audience.
Using alliteration, illuminated letters, and illustrations, Bond highlights an animal and musical instrument for each letter. Most wordplay trips off the tongue (“Gelatinous Jellyfish / jingle and jangle / with Jumbles of bells / they jauntily dangle” and “A trio of Turtles / in rhythmic debut / toot Tuba and Trumpet / and Trombone for you”), but some is forced (“Melodious Mice / strum lullabies sweet / on small Mandolins / with the claws on their feet”). There is no glossary to help with the numerous undefined musical terms, such as “ballad,” “concerto,” and “fantasia.” Full-page illustrations in pen and ink with watercolor are detailed, realistic, and usually humorous. The nightingales with furled wings and the intricate, golden, chain mail–like patterns on the “quirky quirquinchos” (pronunciation provided) are exquisite. A gracefully reclining giraffe wears a garland of flowers while strumming a guitar. The washboard-playing walrus is wistfully wonderful. However, careful readers will also note that a panda is not a bear (letter B), and they may be surprised to see a brass bass clarinet is depicted rather than the typical ebony stick.
For children who play with words or patiently pore over pictures. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7649-8651-2
Page Count: 56
Publisher: PomegranateKids
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
Bank on fun with this one—it’ll rope readers in.
That bad bunny Jack is back—and he’s gone out West!
Jack and the Lady arrive at the dude ranch for a three-day stay. Slim, the gold-toothed ranch hand, immediately takes a liking to the Lady. He calls her “ma’am” and kisses her hand, which makes Jack mad. That night, a bell sounds the alarm at the bank next to the ranch. The Lady goes to investigate only to find that Slim thwarted the theft but was unable to capture the bandit. A wanted poster reveals the bandit’s long ears and scowling eyes. Could it really be Jack? Barnett and Pizzoli are in apple-pie order in this Western for emerging readers. The laugh-out-loud mystery unfolds over six chapters, breathing humor into genre tropes. With a vocabulary of around 150 words and multiple sentences per page, the text is a bit more complex than earlier series entries. The creators’ successful subversion of moralistic primers will inevitably delight readers (though grown-ups may find the moral ambiguity unsettling). Jack at Bat, which publishes simultaneously, gives Jack a chance to settle the score between rival baseball teams—provided he can follow the rules of the game. The humans in Jack Goes West predominantly present white with the exception of the Law Lady, a woman of color, but those in Jack at Bat are diverse in skin tone. As with the other books in the series, each book ends with drawing instructions.
Bank on fun with this one—it’ll rope readers in. (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11388-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Celebrates both alone time and community—each one makes the other sweeter.
A disgruntled bear searches for solitude.
The cave is much too crowded; Bear needs to find another place to live. The community notice board is filled with options, but none is more appealing than a treehouse. A whole house in a tree? Bear plants a signpost out front so everyone knows that this is the titular “Me Tree.” But alas, Bear is not alone. There are squirrels munching on popcorn in the theater room, bees buzzing in the bedroom, and a very (very) slow sloth using the toilet. Bear bellows in frustration: “I just want to be… / ALONE!” The menagerie of animals slumps sadly away. (Sloth even carries a note that reads: “I am sad.”) The text is paced for emergent readers, but those wanting more of a challenge can also scan the plethora of notes and signs found within the art. Belote’s humor shines in the details (the ingredients listed on the “Acorn Flakes” box, for example, include “dirt” and “more dirt”). Some vocabulary, such as potpourri, seems a bit much, but most words skim easily along, thrumming with Bear’s grumpiness (and eventual change of heart). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Celebrates both alone time and community—each one makes the other sweeter. (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-38485-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
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